Detection and analysis of biological samples may be performed using biological assays (“bioassays”). Bioassays conventionally involve large, expensive laboratory equipment requiring research scientists trained to operate the equipment and perform the bioassays. Moreover, bioassays are conventionally performed in bulk such that a large amount of a particular type of sample is necessary for detection and quantitation.
Some bioassays are performed by tagging samples with luminescent markers that emit light of a particular wavelength. The markers are illuminated with a light source to cause luminescence, and the luminescent light is detected with a photodetector to quantify the amount of luminescent light emitted by the markers. Bioassays using luminescent markers conventionally involve expensive laser light sources to illuminate samples and complicated luminescent detection optics and electronics to collect the luminescence from the illuminated samples.